<span style="color: #222222;">Ministry of Finance has released over Rs. 5,005 crore  as first installment of untied basic grants in advance for non-million-plus cities to 28 states of the country for the year 2020-21.<br />'' <br />'' Non-million-plus city refers to the city having less than one million population.<br />'' <br />'' Office of the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a tweet said, the grant will provide the states with vital financial resources at a time when the country is facing the critical time.<br />'' <br />'' The urban local bodies grant was released to the State Governments following the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission.<br />'' <br />'' The amount released to the states includes nearly Rs. 817 crore released to Uttar Pradesh, Rs. 502 crore to Bihar, over Rs. 321 crore to West Bengal, Rs. 305 crore to Maharashtra and Rs. 182 crore to Gujarat.<br />'' <br />'' The Finance Ministry said, the State Finance Departments will transfer the grants-in-aid directly to all urban local bodies in 10 working days of receipt from the Centre without any deduction.<br />'' <br />'' It said, states while allocating these grants to urban local bodies in non-million-plus cities should also make allotment of grants on a population basis for cantonment boards within their territories.<br />'' <br />'' In case of any delay beyond 10 working days, State Governments will require to release the same amount with interest as per the effective rate of interest on market borrowings or state department loans for the previous year.<br />'' <br />'' The basic grants are untied and can be used by local bodies for location-specific needs, except for salary or other expenditure.<br />''<br />''The Finance Ministry said, this time the grant has been released in advance, while the subsequent grants will be released per the provisions in the operational guidelines.</span>